The Goonies Megaways Slot Review

If you are a fan of bonus features, then buckle in, because the Goonies Megaways has one of the largest numbers of bonus elements out there.

Cash Collect Feature

Some symbols have monetary values associated with them. As soon as it shows up on reel 6, the Cash Collect symbol grows to fill the reel, and when it does it will collect all of the cash values currently on screen and award them to the player.

There is also a treasure map positioned above the reels, and each time you trigger the Cash Collect feature you will move along the treasure trail. Each stage on the trail unlocks new bonus features. The following are the map's milestones and the rewards you will receive upon reaching them:

• Two cash collect symbols will unlock ‘Dual Collect’ is unlocked this allows a collect symbol to land on reels 1-5 as well as one on reel 6.
• Five cash collect symbols will award ‘Streak Collect’ which will collect cash values upon each respin. 
• Eight cash collect symbols unlock ‘Boost Collect’. With this in play, all money symbols have their worth increased before collection.
• Twelve cash collect symbols activate the ‘Multi-X Collect’ feature. The Multi X Collect allows you to collect each money symbol up to five times instead of just once.
• 17 cash collect symbols will unlock the Fortune Wheel. The wheel will spin and players can win a set prize pot or a multiplier award in addition to the regular collect payouts.
• 20 Cash Collect symbols will unlock the Treasure Blitz Super Spins feature found at the end of the map.

When a collect feature is active in the main game, it will stay active should the free spins feature be triggered.

 of Gold

The symbol for this is a pot filled with gold. The bonus trigger looks like Road to Riches, but the bonus screen contains bronze, silver, and gold pots. However, four symbols will only show silver and gold pots. Players will receive a multiplier, depending on which pot it stops. The gold pot will give a 500x multiplier.

“Hey You Guys!” Bonus

Inspired by Sloths’ infamous line, the “Hey You Guys!” Bonus is a modifier that is triggered at random. There are three outcomes that can occur when this feature becomes active:

• Bonus Boost: Increase your chances of winning the free spins by adding more Bonus Scatters to the game grid with Bonus Boost.
•  Dynamite Blast:  During Dynamite Blast, the most lucrative symbol or wild is transformed into a standard symbol.
• Cave In:  When a cave-in occurs, old symbols are pushed out of the grid and replaced with new ones. Next, we will look at a different payment factor.

Cash Pots Feature

When you get a Collect and a Cashpot symbol in a single spin, you will claim the corresponding cash pot. It is possible to win more than one cash pot prize per spin, and pots are worth the following  prizes:

• Mini Cash Pot awards 20 times the total wager
• Minor Cash Pot awards 50 times the total wager
• Major Cash Pot awards 200 times the total wager
• Mega Pot awards 2,500 times the total wager

Bonus Choice

In a single spin, you can activate one of two bonus features by landing three or more Bonus Scatter symbols. Alongside winning 20, 100, or 500 times your wager when 4, 5, or 6 Bonus Scatters appear you will also need to choose whether you want to play the Treasure Blitz Super Spins or the Free Spins with multipliers bonus.

Free Spins Bonus

Ten free spins will be yours when the Free Spins feature is picked. During free spins, the currently active cash collect feature will remain active. To increase your free spins and activate multipliers, gather additional Cash Collect symbols:

• Reaching 3 Cash Collects unlocks 5 more free spins and a 2x multiplier for Cash Collect rewards.
• 6 Cash Collects will award 5 extra free spins with a 3x multiplier on Cash Collect prizes
• Nine Cash Collects will award 5 additional free spins plus a 5x multiplier on Cash Collect rewards
• Another 5 free spins can be claimed when 12 Cash Collects have been gathered with a 10x multiplier.

Treasure Blitz Super Spin

For a single spin, the only symbols on the reels are Cash, Cashpot, Collect, and Fortune Wheels. If you land on an icon other than the Collect, the retrigger trail will be extended above the reels.

Reach the trail's conclusion and activate the Pick a Key feature by collecting 13 Cash, Cashpot, or Fortune Wheel symbols. On that particular super spin, this can award an additional spin or a multiplier of up to ten times the Cash values displayed on the screen.

If you receive a respin, to trigger the next Pick a Key, you will need fourteen Cash, Cashpot, or Fortune Wheels. In the event of a second respin, this increases to 15.

It is safe to say that The Goonies Megaways slot features everything but the kitchen sink. Personally, though, I wonder if in this case, it is a case of ‘too much of a good thing’. Blueprint has created many Goonies slots now, and while the developer is very well known for how well they can bring licensed franchises to life in slots form, I think they might have missed the mark here. I am unsure if this time they have been distracted by wanting to release a new Goonies game, over how they can tell the story of the movie and appeal to nostalgic fans. 

Other developers like ELK Studios have been crushing it when it comes to weaving storytelling into their slots, while still including a good selection of features players know and love, as well as those unique to the title. In the Goonies Megaways, it seems as though Blueprint has relied on the success of previous games and the player's prior knowledge of the franchise, while liberally throwing in features to distract players instead of crafting a storyline that enhances the gameplay and brings something new to the table. Outside of the obvious elements like the characters (though why Chunk is missing is beyond me!), there are a few nods to the movie such as a feature named after Sloth's iconic line; ‘Hey You Guys!’, but Blueprint have previously released an entire game with this line as its USP.

If we strip back the cosmetics and branding of the slot, what we are left with is undoubtedly a feature-packed game that certain player types will love. However, many of the features feel a little arbitrary, and their impact on the overall gameplay experience is minimal (such as the cash collect modifiers which allow additional symbols on the reels and so on). 

Blueprint has also decided to opt for the lowest payline version of the Megaways format with 15625 maximum paylines as opposed to the typical 117,649. The maximum RTP of 95% is also pretty dismal, especially considering this slot does not have a progressive jackpot to account for. I also have concerns about playability for mobile gamers, as with so many elements, keeping track of things on a smaller screen is likely to be a challenge. 

Some elements that I did like, however, were the fact that the higher-paying symbols will award prizes for just 2 on a payline, instead of the typical 3, and the effort put into making a quirky and mischievous soundtrack. I also appreciated that the Bonus Choice feature lets players pick the bonus feature they would like to activate. 

Overall though, The Goonies Megaways feels more like a cash grab than the love letter to the iconic 80s movie that previous games in the series have been. With so many features it feels like Blueprint has tried throwing everything at the wall to see if something sticks. For these reasons, I give The Goonies Megaways slot a rating of 6/10 (with the caveat that for feature-loving players this could rise to 7.5/10).

Rating: 7.5